Arturo O’Farrill & Chucho Vald?s Celebrate Family on Collaborative Album, Familia: A Tribute to Bebo & Chico, out September 15 on Mot?ma Music Multi-Generational Project Pays Homage to Late Patriarchs Bebo Vald?s & “Chico” O’Farrill and Spotlights the Next Generation Familia: Tribute to Bebo & Chico brings together two of the influential families in Afro-Cuban music in a celebration of their late patriarchs: pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader Bebo Vald?s and composer, arranger and bandleader “Chico” O?Farrill. It’s a multi-generational tribute led by Arturo O?Farrill and Chucho Vald?s — their sons, major figures in their own right — but also featuring the next generation, including pianist Leyanis Vald?s, drummer Jessie Vald?s, trumpeter Adam O?Farrill and drummer Zack O?Farrill. In keeping with the theme of Familia, sitarist Anoushka Shankar, daughter of the great Ravi Shankar, is featured playing “Raja Ram,” a piece by executive and artistic producer Kabir Sehgal, inspired by memories of his father. Scheduled for September 15 release on Mot?ma Music, the 12-tracks presented in two discs, one featuring the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, the other the Third Generation Ensemble, are a mix of classics by Bebo (“Ecuaci?n” and “Con Poco Coco,”) and Chico (“Pura Emoci?n” and “Pianitis”) as well as originals by their sons and grandsons. The project was recorded in the studio immediately following sold-out live performances of the material as part of O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Alliance performance series at New York’s Symphony Space in January 2017.
